# Chapter 93
—
Balans’s eyes narrowed.
*‘What’s with that brat all of a sudden?’*
His mana had grown compared to when they first met.
For someone estimated to be that young, it had already been a monstrous level, but now he had surpassed even that.
**Whooom—!**
A storm of unrefined mana raged around the mercenary called Donn.
Balans watched the strange phenomenon for a while, then slowly spoke.
“Remarkable. Did you stumble across a fortuitous encounter in such a short time?”
Arthur chuckled.
“A fortuitous encounter? Hm… yes. You could say I did.”
“I’m curious. Will you tell me?”
“Oh, I could. But if you hear it, you’ll probably get angry.”
Balans flinched at those words.
“Don’t tell me you…”
Arthur smirked at Balans’s faltering tone.
Seeing that smile, Balans let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha! Are you saying you stole my property!?”
Arthur shrugged.
“Stole it? No. I received it as fair payment.”
“Payment? Your reward was a thousand gold, not the Dragon Heart. How dare you touch what is mine?”
As he spoke, a violent killing intent poured from Balans.
Arthur, facing it directly, let out an exclamation.
“Oh… still spry, aren’t you?”
“Spry enough to kill you.”
Arthur smiled faintly, lost in thought.
*‘Hmm… what should I do?’*
Even after losing one of his necks, Balans was still brimming with vigor.
**Clack—!**
Meanwhile, Kassias and Paran of the Seven Sovereigns also seemed unscathed.
Arthur stroked his chin, then shrugged.
“Well, looks like I’ll just have to kill all of you.”
“…?”
“And besides, I’ve been wanting to test out my restored prime. Perfect timing.”
Kassias snorted, thrusting his spear forward.
“A worthless mercenary dares say he’ll kill us?”
With that, Kassias sprang up and swung his aura-imbued spear in a great arc.
**Swish—!**
Arthur raised his demonic sword to meet it.
In that instant, Kassias’s waist was cleaved clean through.
“…?”
Balans gaped in shock. Paran beside him was no different.
Only Arthur smiled.
“Ahh… yes, this is the taste.”
“……”
“This is what it means to swing a sword.”
Arthur, grinning in satisfaction, spun his demonic sword.
**Whooom—!**
The aura around the blade scattered light in all directions.
Balans snapped back to his senses and exclaimed.
“Ha… astonishing.”
And at that moment, Paran lunged forward.
**Flash—!**
Aura flared from Paran’s sword.
Perhaps shaken by Kassias’s death, Paran’s expression showed no hint of complacency.
Arthur, watching, grinned.
“Ta-da.”
“…?”
“Bang\~!”
As Paran’s eyes widened, fire erupted from the muzzle of the *Beast*.
**Boom—!**
Horrified, Paran twisted to dodge, but the blast was too wide to escape completely.
One arm was blown clean off. Arthur did not miss the opening.
**Thud.**
Extending his sword, Arthur drove the blade into Paran’s abdomen.
Paran vomited blood, struggling desperately, but that was the end.
“Graaagh!”
Lightning crackled faintly along the aura-coated demonic sword.
When it exploded, Paran died with his mouth still agape.
Balans, watching it all, fell silent.
“……”
Arthur turned his head.
When their eyes met, Balans involuntarily flinched. Arthur raised his aura-filled sword.
“Now it’s your turn, Lord Balans. Any last words?”
“…What?”
“Your last words. I probably won’t deliver them, but I’ll remember them for you.”
Balans blinked.
Then he burst into coarse laughter, shouting.
“You insolent brat! Do you even know who I am!?”
As his shout rang out, raw mana surged violently from his body.
“Ohhh…”
Arthur stroked his chin with a low whistle.
The energy Balans now exuded was that of at least a seventy-year mage.
*‘The pirate vice-captain earlier was at eighty years… so just below that.’*
At that level, he could easily serve as a palace mage or head a kingdom’s mage corps.
*‘If I hadn’t awakened aura, I’d be dead already.’*
But now that he could wield aura, it was different.
Arthur gripped his sword and lowered his stance.
At that moment, his aura and presence erupted.
**Kwaaang—!**
Bathed in the long-missed sensation, Arthur licked his lips.
“Hah… I’m so thrilled, I could go insane.”
He shouldn’t lose his head—but tonight, he wanted to.
With that thought, Arthur leapt forward.
—
—
Arthur lunged.
At the same time, Undine and Gnome performed miracles.
**Boom—!**
Balans countered with a false miracle of his own.
Amid the clash, Arthur used spatial-leap, thrusting his aura-filled blade.
“…!”
Startled, Balans hastily cast a spell.
A colossal fire pit spewed heat.
But Arthur did not retreat.
**Swaash—!**
With aura, nothing was uncuttable.
Arthur cleaved the flames apart, then raised the *Beast*.
**Boom—!**
A bomb fired, narrowly grazing Balans.
But the impact shattered his balance. Arthur seized the opening.
**Slash—!**
His aura blade tore across Balans’s abdomen.
With blood spraying, Balans roared.
“You dare, you worm!”
And at his shout, the wound knit closed.
Arthur, impressed, space-leapt again.
“…!”
Balans, startled, countered with a short teleport.
At the same time, a bolt of lightning struck where he had been.
**Crash!**
“……”
Balans shivered. If he had been a moment late, that bolt would have ended him.
Arthur rested his sword on his shoulder, grinning.
“Oh… for a mage, you’re remarkably skilled in battle.”
Snapping back, Balans snorted.
“You dare say such things to me?”
“You’re not a mage? Then I meant that as a compliment.”
And with that, Arthur vanished.
Balans flinched.
*‘What is he? That’s no teleportation. Some bloodline ability?’*
*‘Then what about that lightning? Could he really be a mage too? But he wields aura…?’*
His mind tangled with confusion.
In that instant, Arthur’s sword was upon him.
**Boom—!**
Balans barely managed a spell, but it was shredded like paper.
Aura flashed through.
With a strangled cry, Balans teleported—
—but not completely.
**Shrrrip—!**
His chest was cut, blood gushing.
Not fatal, but agonizing.
Biting his lip, Balans thought:
*‘What is he!? Even with a fragment of Dragon Heart, such a rapid surge is impossible…’*
But he had no time to ponder.
Arthur was upon him again, sword swinging.
**Kwa-kwang—!**
Aura blades cut for his throat, spirits’ spells struck from behind, and lightning rained from above.
Watching it, Balans remembered.
*‘The Ghost, Willet Christol.’*
The swordsman who had once made him taste death.
He roared.
“Yes… you’ve annoyed me from the start!”
Arthur paused, surprised.
“…Excuse me?”
“When you were with Willet… I knew I should’ve trusted my instincts. I planned to use you and discard you, but I ignored the warning.”
Arthur blinked.
“Oh… so this is Willet’s past?”
“Keheh… you said your name was Dun?”
“Yes. Donn.”
“How much do you really know of your broker’s past?”
Arthur tilted his head.
“Well… he’s narrow-minded, grumbles a lot, but soft-hearted and kind inside?”
“Soft-hearted? Kind inside? Hahaha! Willet Christol? What a joke!”
Balans spat blood, eyes blazing.
“Do you know why your broker is called ‘Ghost’? No, you wouldn’t. It was because of the *Great Massacre*. He covered it up so well he became a ghost.”
Arthur raised his brows.
“The Great Massacre?”
“He slaughtered a thousand civilians—alone.”
“…?”
“And why? Because he was hired! No grudge, no cause. Just money. He butchered a thousand innocents.”
Arthur let out a whistle.
“My word… a thousand civilians?”
“But the world doesn’t know. Why? Because the high nobles who commissioned him erased all traces.”
Balans laughed bitterly, clutching his brow.
“Among those thousand, how many were children? He wiped out an entire village—at least a hundred kids. Even we don’t stoop so low! We live in the gutter, but we still have some code, some conscience!”
“……”
“But Willet? That bastard’s different. A dog. As long as he’s paid, he’ll do anything.”
Arthur stroked his chin.
Balans sneered.
“And do you want to hear worse? It wasn’t just the civilians he killed that day.”
“…Then who?”
“The comrades who helped him.”
“…!”
“He killed even them. To make the cover-up perfect, he sold out his own allies.”
Arthur rubbed his chin.
“Oh… so he even killed his comrades for a flawless silence.”
At that moment, Balans unleashed his true magic.
**Whooom—!**
\[Allure] and \[Illusion].
Magic that invaded the human psyche and twisted it at will.
—
—
With it, he had climbed to one of the Seven Sovereigns and even shaken the Prime Kingdom.
He believed without doubt.
*‘I only lost to Willet because I hadn’t used this magic then. Now it’s different.’*
Once unleashed, none could escape this ‘hypnosis.’
Not even this monstrous swordsman.
Balans smirked and shouted to unnerve Arthur further.
“You’re serving a man like that. Do you see the truth now?”
“……”
“Once a betrayer, always a betrayer. And you’re not even his comrade. He’ll discard you anytime.”
“……”
“So why fight me? You want the Dragon Heart fragment? Take it! Shuga! Cut open that monster’s chest and bring it here!”
Arthur grinned.
Balans grew agitated.
“If we join hands, the perfect picture is drawn. A master swordsman and a mage? No one could stop us!”
Arthur tilted his head.
“…Hm, true enough. So.”
He cocked his head.
“Was that your last will, Balans?”
“…?”
“For a last will, it was far too long. I won’t remember it all. I’ll just keep the parts I like.”
Balans flinched.
*‘Not yet…? The illusion hasn’t taken hold?’*
It should’ve ensnared him by now.
Frantic, Balans shouted:
“Didn’t you hear me!? If you stay with Willet, he’ll betray you! He’ll kill you! Better join me!”
Arthur shrugged.
“Well, maybe. But Willet’s betrayal isn’t reason enough to let you live.”
“……”
“So… is that all you had to say, Balans?”
Balans fell silent.
“Why… why aren’t you falling under my illusions?”
“…Huh?”
“By now, you should be lost in hallucination. Why aren’t you!?”
Arthur scratched his head.
“Beats me. When did you cast it? I didn’t notice at all.”
Balans let out a hollow laugh.
“Don’t tell me… you’ve faced stronger illusions before? And survived?”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“So you were scheming in the background. Truly devious.”
And with that, Arthur leapt.
Balans hastily cast spells.
Black smoke swirled, swallowing even Kassias and Paran’s corpses.
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
*‘Dangerous. If I let my guard down, I’ll be swallowed.’*
To cut him, he had to get close—but risked being consumed.
Arthur exhaled slowly.
“Phew…”
He gathered every ounce of aura into his blade.
**Papapapap—!**
The aura surged skyward.
Arthur angled his sword and murmured.
*‘Aura cuts all. And a slash is…’*
The secret art that unleashes that force.
He swung.
At that instant—
“…!”
Balans’s spell split apart.
“…A slash technique?”
His mouth fell open.
Arthur space-leapt, plunging his sword into Balans’s chest.
“…Ghk!”
With a strangled gasp, Balans’s body plummeted.
Arthur, atop him, pulled the blade free.
“This is the end, Balans.”
Balans trembled, muttering.
“Kehh… I die… to a brat like you?”
Coughing blood, his eyes glimmered.
“Don’t rejoice yet. You’ve stirred a hornet’s nest.”
“A hornet’s nest?”
“The Seven Sovereigns… and the Pirates. You’ve provoked both. You’ve broken the taboo of this world.”
Arthur laughed.
“Do you know what the dying always say?”
“…?”
“They all tell me I’ll be in big trouble. That I’ll regret it. And it’s always the ones with powerful backers.”
Balans’s eyes widened.
“……”
Blood gushed from his lips. His skin shriveled rapidly.
The magic holding back his age unraveled.
Arthur watched silently.
Balans whispered weakly.
“May I… leave one last will?”
Arthur nodded.
“Speak.”
“In my coat, there’s a card. Half of what’s in it… take it. The other half… give to Shuga.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Oh…?”
And then Balans’s breath ceased.
Arthur watched quietly, murmuring.
“…So in the end, you became a father.”
The monster Balans…
At the very last moment, seemed to return to being human.
—
